Suicide

Periodically groups emerge which advocate indiv. or mass suicide E.g. Japanese warriors have subscribed to ritualised suicide rather than accept shame of losing battle/war - Using short sword, indiv. plunges it into his stomach; assistant then decapitates person - WWII, some Japanese pilots sent on suicide missions to crash planes into enemy warships During Vietnam War, Buddhist monks used suicide to protest war - 1963, Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death Largest mass suicide in modern history involved Jim Jones led People's Temple in Guyana - People's Temple practices form of Agrarian Socialism - all equal, all working together

About 1 million people commit suicide in the world each year - 90% of these persons have major mental illness In countries like Aus, suicide is 3rd leading cause of death for persons under 45yrs old

Suicide and suicidal behaviour tend to be understood as indiv. characteristic - Indiv. who experiences despair/depression perceived to act on these feelings Work of Emile Durkeim challenges individualistic view by pointing to regular patterns of suicide in society Durkeim studied variation in suicide rates in Europe in late 1800s - Men had higher rates of suicide than women - Single persons had higher rates of suicide than married persons - Married persons without kids had higher rate - Protestants had higher rates than Catholics or Jews

Egotistic Results from feeling of not being part of social group > not belonging Reflects weak social bonds with others in society, lack of/lower level of social integration

AltruisticCommitment to greater good > suicide for others, on behalf of society

Anomic Moral confusion and lack of social direction Can result from rapid and inexplicable changes, e.g. sudden economic recession, marital conflict

Durkheim doesn't associate suicide with mental illness- However, conceptions of mental illness in late 1800s very different from today

Suicide is lower during periods of war (also noted by Durkheim) Increase in suicides during major economic recessions Higher rates for unemployed Declines in suicide when means to commit suicide are made less available Currently, 300 000 suicides worldwide due to pesticides

Across all age groups and genders, number of diagnoses of mental illness are predictors of suicide In one large study, 57 studies with 132 128 participants, 51% positive relationship between depression and suicide, 23% negative relationship, 26% mixed results However, asking people (who have mental illness) about what proportion think about/make plan to commit, results are very different - In 36 year follow-up study, those with psychiatric disorder - about 5-7% with schizophrenia, 4-7% with major depression, 5-85 with bipolar subsequently committed

Males more violent and lethal methods - hanging, guns Females less violent and disfiguring - poison, OD, jumping

Rates in Aus (ABS, 2011) 15-19 age group, low suicide rate but suicides are major contributors to all 15-19 deaths largely because those in this age group don't yet have many chronic diseases experienced by adults While females in young age groups have low suicide rate, still contributes to large percent of all deaths in these age groups Suicide in middle age groups remains high but appears to decline as males and females reach 50yrs - by 50yrs, suicide rates are modest and contribute very little to overall death rate For both males and females, suicide spikes upwards in 80+ age group - 85+ group has highest rate of any age group, but suicide nevertheless contributes only marginally to total number of deaths in that group 2011, 1727 males and 546 females committed suicide; about 6/day in Aus

For ATSI people/descendants, relative age standardised suicide rate is 2.5 times higher for males and 3.4 times higher for females than non ATSI people - ABS, 2013

Over time in Aus, rates for young males have declined somewhat; remain much higher than female rates across all age groups

1. Suicidal thoughts Using age of onset of suicidal thoughts - some 34% of those with thoughts go on to make plan; some 72% who make plan go on to attempt - much of this happens within 1yr of thoughts

2. Suicide attempts Infrequent and unusual; few of those with mental disorder try to commit Previous attempts are good indicator of subsequent attempts

3. SuicideOnset of suicidal behaviour usually early puberty/adolescence with increase up to about 16yrs and high rates of first suicidal behaviours until early 20s

Females think a lot more about suicide and attempting - also more likely to attempt, planned or not Young and middle-aged people (18-34 and 35-49 mainly) think a lot more about committing  - For young persons, attempts are generally unplanned Less educated persons and current not first marriage also think and more often attempt

General

Types of Suicide (Durkheim)

Recent Key Consistent Findings

Methods; Rates in Aus

3 Forms